Modernizing A Classic

My father in law gave me a hunting rifle for Christmas about 5 years ago. I thanked him for it, but really had no intention of ever using it. I'm not against hunting by any means, but I had other priorities at that time.

I did some research and it was made in 1966 or 1967 according to the serial number, and the fact that it's a 760BDL left hand. (link, link)

The scope is on old Leupold that predates the serial number guide found here. It's a 4x, which is kind of just above useless and below worth the trouble on foo.c's scope utility scale. I'm sure lots of people like 4x fixed power scopes, but I find myself either wanting more magnification or missing the ease of iron sights depending on what kind of mood I am in.

There's a lot I like about this rifle. It feels like a Remington shotgun, so it's familiar. It's fairly light and compact. If you shoot left-handed, like I do, it's much faster than a right handed bolt-action and its got a left hand safety.

There's a lot I don't like about it. I can't get it to stay in the pocket for some reason. It kicks like the proverbial mule and has no recoil pad. It's a pain in the ass to shoot off a bench because you have to reset everything after every shot. It has no sling swivels. It's UGLY!!

So, I want to change some things about it, but I also want to be able to return it to original condition.

Here she is with new clothes:

I got a new scope for it as well, but I haven't put it on yet. I may not put it on at all though, and use it as my "brush gun."